The invention generally relates to hammocks and more particularly to a hammock which has an improved spreader bar making the hammock safer to use and which facilitates assembly thereof by an assembly plant.
Hammocks are an inexpensive apparatus for supporting an individual in a reclining position. They are especially useful because they are adaptable for use in many different types of outdoor environments due to their advantageous feature of requiring simply the availability of two suitably separated structures to which attachment ropes may be secured and thus may be suspended from trees, poles and many other types of structures. Hammocks may thus be used in locales where tents and other types of rest providing equipment may not pragmatically be used due to rocky terrain, excessive vegetation, wet ground surfaces, etc. Consequently, hammocks have been widely used in conjunction with camping and other types of outdoor recreational activities. For such outdoor use hammocks also have the added advantage that since they are typically suspended above the ground which may often be hard, rocky, uneven, wet, cold, dirty or infested with insects they can provide comfort to the user in spite of such undesirable ground surface characteristics.
Some of the oldest designs for hammocks utilize spreader bars to separate the suspension cords and thereby laterally extend the body supporting member of the hammock to provide fuller and generally flatter support and thereby a more comfortable surface for the user to lie on. However, such spreader bars have typically been laterally straight which has the disadvantage that the stresses placed thereon by the suspension cords are unevenly distributed on the bars, and this may result in breakage of the bar or produce an unstable hammock which is more likely to rotate while in use and dump the user. Conventional spreader bars for hammocks typically are provided with apertures for the suspension cords to pass through and also are of unitary construction which requires the hammock to be assembled by feeding the cords through the apertures and subsequently securing the cords to the other components of the hammock. This requirement makes the assembly of such hammocks more labor intensive which increases the cost of the hammock.
Many types of hammocks utilize a spreader bar at the longitudinal ends of the body supporting member to maintain the supporting member in a laterally spread position. An example of such a hammock design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. #4,800,601 to DeCaro. DeCaro utilizes a straight bar which has angled retaining members forming one C-shaped slot at one end thereof which holds the ends of the supporting member in a spread condition and another C-shaped slot at the other end thereof which holds the ends of the supporting cords therein. Although the DeCaro hammock was designed to be more inexpensive to manufacture than hammocks with comparable features, it nevertheless requires considerable labor to attach the suspension cords to the spreader bar. This additional labor requirement adds significantly to its costs of manufacture.
Many other types of hammocks utilize relatively simple spreader bar designs to provide the desired function of laterally spreading out the body supporting member. Examples of such hammocks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. #4,162,550 to Willingham and #4,686,720 to Newell. The Willingham hammock utilizes a spreader bar which is straight and provided with apertures through which the suspension cords pass. The Willingham spreader bar is directly secured to the body supporting member at the ends thereof while the Newell spreader bar is secured to suspension cords which are secured to the body supporting member at the ends thereof. However, such designs have the disadvantage that the forces exerted on the spreader bar are concentrated at the end portions thereof. This may produce undue stresses at these portions potentially resulting in failure of the components or flipping over of the hammock under use because the forces are not evenly distributed laterally.
Other types of hammocks include spreader bars which are designed to provide a taut hammock sheet for firmer support and enhanced user comfort. An example of such a hammock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. #4,021,868 to Fueslein. The Fueslein design includes spreader members which are positioned underneath the hammock sheet at medial portions and proximal end portions thereof. The spreader members are vertically curved in order to space them from the sheet and prevent contact thereof with the user. However, since the suspension cord connection points are located at only the peripheral lateral edges of the sheet, the forces of suspension are concentrated at these edges instead of being evenly distributed throughout more of the entire sheet. Thus, such designs have the disadvantage that they may not be able to withstand prolonged use without tearing, loosening of the connections, etc.
A hammock is thus needed which is safer to use and more inexpensive to manufacture. A hammock is also needed which provides these features while being simple in construction and thus easy to use.